I have been using Chromebooks for the last four years both for work and pleasure and have always found them exceptional and very safe workhorses. However, the best developments have been brought forward by Google in the last eighteen months or so, as the latest models duel boot on startup into Google OS (the traditional operating system for Chromebooks) and Google Andriod which is the operating system which has always powered their phones.
The bove Chromebooks run both operating systems side by side, and switching into ether while the laptop is running is instantaneous and simple. As far as security is concerned the Google OS side is entirely uncompromised and therefore remains very safe from virus and malware infection, so no security software is required whatsoever while using that.
Microsofts Office 360 suite is now available for Chromebooks which makes then as productive as any windows based desktop or laptop for work-related tasks and collaboration with others. Of course, all tasks carried out in Chrome OS mode is entirely cloud-based which is why they are so secure.
However, it is the ability for Chromebooks to now swap into theGoogle Android operating system that makes them so versatile and IMHO a step above any other laptop on the market. There are on the Google play store now over two million apps that can be downloaded onto Chromebooks. Many of those apps were developed for Android phones, but a huge effort by Google, the Chromebook manufacturers and many of the app developers have made a very large percentage of those apps suitable for larger screen Chromebooks.
The above means that applications such as video and photo editing (in the form of Kinemaster, PowerDirecter and Photoshop apps) which has until now only been available for high-end Andriod phones is now available for larger screen Chromebooks along with many of the famous games that has made the Google Play store the great place that it is. However, security software is required to be installed when using a Chromebook in Google Andriod mode.
Google Andriod voice recognition software is now freely available to Chromebooks, so dictation that is carried out into documents on a Android phone is instantaneously available for final keyboard edit under Chrome OS by use of a Chromebook. In that, the use of the cloud to transfer any document to Chrome OS is required, but that is a straightforward task once learned.
Our company now has nine of the twenty-eight workstations in the main open office operating under the Google Chrome Operating System, which means that the businesses owned Chromebooks and Android phones can wirelessly cast to the large screens on those workstations for use by any member of a collaboration team. Further workstation is to be converted as the Microsoft Windows Systems presently employed on those stations become redundant.
Hope this helps and demonstrates the great confidence many companies are building up in the Google system(s)